William A. Hall, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin, discusses trial findings on androgen deprivation and radiation alone, compared with androgen deprivation, radiotherapy, and surgery in men with high-risk, nonmetastatic adenocarcinoma of the prostate (Abstract 15).
Christopher R. Kelsey, MD, of Duke University Medical Center, discusses reducing the radiation dose from 30 Gy to 20 Gy for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Phase II findings show this approach may be effective in light of improved systemic treatment and better chemotherapy response...
Gerard Morton, MD, of Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, summarizes a session that included discussion of late toxicities of radiotherapy for locally recurrent prostate cancer; using chemotherapy instead of radiation in early-stage seminoma; radiotherapy vs surgery plus radiotherapy in Gleason score...
Shrinivas Rathod, MD, of the University of Manitoba, discusses phase III study results on optimization of treatment of advanced non–small cell lung cancer using radiation therapy and chemotherapy (Abstract 223).
Bhishamjit S. Chera, MD, of the University of North Carolina, discusses quantification of human papillomavirus 16 in circulating tumor DNA during de-intensified chemoradiation therapy for favorable-risk HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (Presentation 92).
A new survey finds breast cancer patients’ actual radiation therapy experiences largely exceeded their expectations. The survey, which addressed the fears and misconceptions regarding radiation therapy for breast cancer, found that more than three-fourths of the breast cancer patients...
For certain patients with oropharyngeal cancer caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), an aggressive reduction of radiation therapy after surgery may provide cancer control while simultaneously reducing post-treatment side effects, improving quality of life, and lowering treatment costs,...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Motzer et al, the phase III PROTECT trial showed no significant disease-free survival benefit for adjuvant pazopanib at 600 mg vs placebo after nephrectomy in patients with localized or locally advanced renal cell carcinoma at high risk of relapse. ...
In a new phase III trial report from the National Clinical Trial Network group, NRG Oncology, recurrence-free and overall survival rates for women with stage I–II high-risk endometrial cancer were not superior following adjuvant vaginal cuff brachytherapy plus chemotherapy when compared with...
Nearly 100 oncology care providers from across the United States traveled to Capitol Hill on September 27 and 28 to participate in the second annual ASCO Advocacy Summit. Advocates met with Members of Congress and their staff to educate them on critical issues affecting patients with cancer ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved abemaciclib (Verzenio) to treat adult patients who have hormone receptor–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer that has progressed after endocrine therapy. Abemaciclib is...
Shulian Wang, MD, of the National Cancer Center in Beijing, and Benjamin Movsas, MD, of the Henry Ford Health System, discuss study results on the use of hypofractionated radiation therapy after mastectomy for the treatment of high-risk breast cancer (Abstract PL01).
Tamim Niazi, MDCM, of McGill University, discusses phase III study findings on hypofractionated, dose-escalation radiation therapy for high-risk adenocarcinoma of the prostate (Abstract 281).
Maria Werner-Wasik, MD, of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, summarizes a session on NSCLC that included discussion of a quality-of-life trial on optimizing treatment; chemotherapy and radiotherapy in advanced disease; a comparison of standard- vs high-dose conformal chemoradiotherapy; and...
Jeffrey D. Bradley, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine, discusses long-term phase III findings on standard-dose vs high-dose conformal chemoradiation therapy with or without cetuximab for stage III non–small cell lung cancer (Abstract 227).
A new study finds that immune response in prostate cancer may be able to forecast how patients will respond to radiation therapy, as well as their likelihood of disease recurrence and survival outcomes. The analysis of more than 9,000 prostate tumors also found evidence that programmed cell death...
Long-term results of a phase III clinical trial indicate that survival rates for patients receiving chemoradiation for unresectable, locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may be more than twice as high as previous estimates. At 5 years following treatment with a standard dose of ...
In a report from the St Jude Lifetime Cohort Study published in The Lancet, Bhakta et al detailed the burden of lifetime chronic health conditions in survivors of childhood cancers. The report included retrospectively collected data on chronic health conditions in 5,522 patients treated for...
An Australian phase I first-in-human trial has shown early activity of microRNA-loaded minicells in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. These findings were reported in The Lancet Oncology by van Zandwijk et al. The minicells (TargomiRs) are loaded with miR-16–based mimic microRNA...
Marcus E. Randall, MD, of the University of Kentucky, discusses phase III study findings on pelvic radiation therapy vs vaginal cuff brachytherapy followed by paclitaxel/carboplatin chemotherapy in patients with high-risk, early stage endometrial cancer (Abstract LBA1).
Juanita Crook, MD, of the University of British Columbia, discusses late toxicity findings on transperineal ultrasound–guided brachytherapy for locally recurrent prostate cancer after external-beam radiation therapy (Abstract 1).
James E. Bates, MD, of the University of Florida, discusses a volumetric dose-effect analysis of late cardiotoxicity, results from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (Abstract 4).
A new study involving patients with stage IV cancer has found that treatment with radiation therapy and immunotherapy can slow tumor growth by stimulating the body’s immune system to attack the cancer. In the phase II trial, patients with end-stage cancer that had metastasized to the lungs or ...
Psychological distress has long been associated with negative health outcomes for patients with cancer, though specific reasons remain unclear. A new study has found that roughly half of all patients who reported having severe distress, which the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN)...
For patients with limited metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), adding radiation therapy before maintenance chemotherapy may curb disease progression when compared to maintenance chemotherapy alone, according to a randomized phase II clinical trial reported by Iyengar et al. at the...
The phase III MONET-A trial has shown that the addition of the multikinase/vascular endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitor motesanib to paclitaxel and carboplatin did not significantly improve progression-free survival in East Asian patients with stage IV/recurrent nonsquamous non–small ...
The phase III COMBI-AD trial has shown a significant improvement in relapse-free survival with the combination of the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and the MEK inhibitor trametinib (Mekinist) vs placebo as adjuvant therapy in patients with resected stage III melanoma with BRAF V600E or V600K ...
According to the American Cancer Society, about 316,120 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed this year, and over 40,000 women will die of the disease. Between 10% and 20% of women diagnosed with cancer are current smokers. Now, a prospective study by Parada et al investigating whether...
A new study demonstrates that a blood test to detect cancer may predict treatment outcomes for patients with localized non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and afford physicians additional lead time to personalize treatment for recurrent disease. Patients in the study with detectable levels of...
Findings from a new multicenter, international clinical trial confirm the effectiveness of high-dose brachytherapy, or internal radiation therapy, for managing locally advanced cervical cancer. Tumor control was significantly better following four fractions of 7 Gy each than following two 9-Gy...
A new study of patients at an urban cancer center points to a potentially serious problem that may limit the impact of clinical cancer care—undiagnosed depression. Among the 40% of patients at the center who were diagnosed with depression, three in four had not previously been told they were ...
On September 22, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic, gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma whose tumors express programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) as...
On September 22, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients who have been previously treated with sorafenib (Nexavar). CheckMate 040 Approval was based on a 154-patient subgroup of...
The Global Burden of Disease Study, published in The Lancet, finds that of noncommunicable diseases, cancer is the second-leading cause of death globally.1 The report also finds that deaths from cancer increased more than 17% between 2006 and 2016. The Global Burden of Disease Study is a...
A series of medical mishaps has led me to a diagnosis of stage IV carcinoid neuroendocrine cancer and a shortened lifespan. This never should have happened. For months in early 2015, I was plagued with all the signs of a serious illness, including chronic stomach, bowel, and digestive issues;...
In a Children’s Oncology Group (COG) study (AALL06N1) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hardy et al found that age < 10 years at diagnosis was associated with poorer neurocognitive function in patients with high-risk B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) regardless of...
In a phase III trial (Cancer and Leukemia Group B 10603 [RATIFY]/Alliance) reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Stone et al found that the addition of midostaurin (Rydapt) to standard chemotherapy improved overall survival in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML)...
A comparative analysis of outcomes with two different trastuzumab (Herceptin)-based adjuvant regimens in older women with early HER2-positive breast cancer found little difference in safety and efficacy between treatments. The study was reported by Katherine E. Reeder-Hayes, MD, MBA, of the...
Triple-negative breast cancer is a highly aggressive breast cancer that lacks hormone receptors and overexpression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2/neu), and, therefore, there are no targeted treatments available for the cancer. Triple-negative breast cancer afflicts African...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) will recognize Marshall A. Lichtman, MD, of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, with the 2017 Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology. Dr. Lichtman will be honored for his notable service to the field of...
The statistics on physician suicide are stark: Physicians are more than twice as likely to take their own lives as nonphysicians, and more than 400 physicians commit suicide each year in the United States. Moreover, young physicians at the early part of their training are reported to be...
Investigators at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) have announced the opening of enrollment for a unique precision medicine clinical trial. NCI-COG Pediatric Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (Pediatric MATCH) is a nationwide trial to explore whether...
MANY health-care experts disagree about when screening mammography is appropriate and for whom. That’s what Women Informed to Screen Depending on Measures of Risk (WISDOM) seeks to remedy. The University of California (UC) Health study aims to uncover whether annual mammograms really are the best...
The American Cancer Society (ACS) has awarded $100,000 in grants to five community health centers across the country to reduce colon cancer disparities in American Indian and Alaska Native populations through the Community Health Advocates implementing Nationwide Grants for Empowerment and Equity...
The organizations and programs listed here are helping to address and reduce disparities in cancer care in rural communities. ASCO University Disparities in Cancer Care: Take Action (http://university.asco.org/disparities-cancer-care-take-action). This free slide-based course is designed to help...
A pair of recent studies show a troubling trend: Despite a 20% decrease in cancer mortality rates nationwide over the past 2 decades,1 Americans living in rural regions of the United States are more likely to die of cancer than persons living in metropolitan areas of the country. An analysis of...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies commonly used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, present information on...
A cancer diagnosis presents emotional and psychological challenges for patients and caregivers, and prostate cancer has some unique challenges, in part because management is not writ in stone. At several points along the trajectory of illness, men with prostate cancer face decisions that can be...
A pre-existing diagnosis of dementia was associated with increased risk of death for older patients with advanced colon cancer; however, some of the effects of dementia on survival could be mediated by receipt of chemotherapy, according to results of a study published by Chen et al in Cancer...
The pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review (pCODR) has provided a positive clinical recommendation for the reimbursement of olaparib (Lynparza), a first-of-its-kind treatment for BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer. Lynparza is an oral, potent inhibitor of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) available as a...